Japan Sakura XV vs Italy 2024 Preview

The Sakura national XVs team are on the road and will play Italy in a one-off test match on Saturday 14 September 2024 at Stadio Walter Beltrametti, Piacenza before moving to South Africa to compete in the WXV2 2024.

The Japanese women have had a mixed 2024 international test season so far. They claimed the Asia Rugby Championship 2024 title to qualify for RWC 2025, beating Kazakhstan and Hong Kong China, however, the win over HKCR was not as comfortable as most expected.

The team then went to Fiji and drew the series 1-1, but it was the first-ever loss to the Fijians. The most recent matches saw Japan host the USA in Japan for the first time, but again they drew the first game (17-all) and narrowly lost the second test (8-11) but both were there to be won.

The 30-member Japanese squad departed for Italy on September 7 in preparation for the match which takes place a one-hour drive, south-east of Milan.

The hosts, the Le Azzurre, last lost at home to the Japanese 24-25 in Parma in 2023 which was the first time the Sakura had beaten their European opponents. The Italiens have won 4 times and there has been one draw- the most recent matchup was during WXV 2 2023 when Italy won 28-15 in South Africa.

This is Italy’s first test since they finished fifth in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations 2024 in April and Italian prop Sara Seye said in the pre-match that they were wary of the visitors as Japan had more recent tests to prepare. She added that for them, the match will be used to understand work on areas as they also head to WXV2 in South Africa after the game but they won’t face the Japanese there. 19-year-old Sara Mannini is set to make her debut in the centres.

Sakura Head Coach Leslie McKenzie has made 8 changes to the starting XV compared to the team that played in the second test loss to the United States. Wing #22 Anan Seo could make her debut off the bench, while the starting front row has been overhauled – with a new combination of loose-head Sachiko Kato, hooker Kotomi Taniguchi and converted hooker Nijiho Nagata, who makes her first test start at tight-head.

Ayasa Otsuka is selected at inside-centre for the first time in her test career, 21 of her previous test starts have been at fly-half with one at full-back.

Holly Wood (England) is the match referee.

Match Permutations Japan Sakura XV vs Italy (September 2024)

• Italy is ranked 8th and Japan is ranked 11th
• Italy will drop down to ninth if Ireland wins this weekend and if they lose to Japan.
• The Azzurre can’t improve on eighth place if they beat Japan.
• Sakura XV need a big win to close the gap on Italy in the rankings but they cant break into the top ten.

Match Result – Italy 24-8 Japan

Japan Sakura XV Squad vs Italy

You can see more details on the touring squad here via JRFU.

Italy Squad vs Japan Sakura XV

How To Watch Sakura XV vs Italy

The Japan Sakura XV match vs Italy will be broadcast on YouTube on 14 September 2024. The match kicks off at 14:00 local Italian time (21:00 JST).

International Rugby 2024

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• Japan Sakura XV vs USA 2nd Test Preview – Taiyo Seimei Japan Rugby Challenge Series 2024.
• WXV 2024 Details Confirmed – WXV 3 Heads Back To Dubai.